411 



The cephalic indexes of the respective peoples are as follow : — Andamanese, 82 ; 

 Semang, 78'9 ; Aetas, 80 (Haddon) ; while the Tapiros are 80'2 (Rawling), 

 and the Kai Pigmies over 80 (Neuhauss). The nose in all the races is low at 

 the bridge and very broad, and the alveolar margin of the upper jaw prominent. 

 This, with the flat nose and weak chin, gives rise to a prognathism. 



Among the Equatorial Pigmies, Stanley and Johnstone distinguish two 

 types in relation to the colour of their skin — one with reddish or yellowish-brown 

 skin and a tendency to red in the hair, and the other a black-skinned type with 

 entirely black scalp hair. The Bushmen are stated to be reddish or yellowish, 

 much lighter than the negro, but their colour varies with the different tribes. 

 In Asia the negritos are all classed as dark brown. 



The peculiar type of hair to which all Pigmies must conform is the short 

 curly hair of the so-called peppercorn type. While this hair is found in all the 

 races, African and Eastern, it reaches its special development in the Bushmen. 

 In colour it is in all the races a dark brown, sometimes nearly black, at others 

 with a tinge of red in it. The body hair is curly and of the same colour, which 

 is well developed on the ventral surface. Amongst some of the Congo and 

 Ituri Pigmies there is a remarkable development of fine lanugo (which is 

 especially evident in the sunlight), as well as beards that are sometimes of 

 considerable length. 



The particular anthropological characteristics of the Pigmies are, short 

 stature, a broad head, and typical curly hair, in contradistinction to the Negroes, 

 who are characterised by tall stature, long head, and curly hair. 



Arts and Customs. 



In discussing the stage of culture of the Pigmies, only those facts will be 

 mentioned which concern them apart from the influence of adjacent peoples. 



As all the races live in hot climates clothing can be, and is, reduced to the 

 possible minimum. The Equatorial Pigmies mostly go naked in the forests ; 

 at most, they wear a bark girdle, in which the women stick large leaves before 

 and behind. The Bushmen wear a leather perineal band, while their women 

 wear two short leather aprons, the larger one covering the buttocks. In cold 

 weather there is worn, in addition, a skin caross sufficiently large to envelop the 

 body. The Andamanese are contented with a string girdle, in which bunches of 

 leaves are placed, after the fashion of the Equatorial Pigmies. The same fashion is 

 observed by the Semang, while the Negritos use perineal bands of bark enlarged 

 into an apron by the women. Wollaston observed that the Tapiro men had 

 nothing on but a phallocrypt formed of a gourd. The women were not seen. 



Sparing as the Pigmies are in their dress, they are still more so in their 

 decorations. Mutilations, so common amongst races of greater stature, are 

 unknown, if we except the alleged amputation of a little finger- joint by certain 

 Bushmen, and in no race is circumcision a practice. Real tattooing is entirely 

 absent and scarification confined to the Andamanese and the Aetas of the 

 Philippines. Our information as to the use of pigments is incomplete, but they 

 appear to be sparingly used by the Akkas and the Bushmen, and extensively 

 so by the Andamanese. Of ornaments the primitive Akkas seem to know 

 nothing, while the Bushmen make necklaces and other ornaments of discs of 

 ostrich shell, for the manufacture of which they have a special technique. The 

 Asiatic Pigmies are much fonder of ornaments, the most interesting being the 

 magic combs of the Semang worn by the women to avert disease. The 

 Andamanese, as in the case of the extinct Tasmanians, wear the bones and 

 skulls of their deceased relations. 



The various races are, without exception, hunters and collectors of food. 

 Cultivation and pastoral pursuits are unknown to them. They are great hunters 



